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An ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands as Israeli workers remove prayer notes left by visitors from between the stones of the Western Wall

In this Sept. 9, 2012 file photo, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man stands as Israeli workers remove prayer notes left by visitors from between the stones of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

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$500 million in checks left at Jerusalem holy site

It's doubtful they can be cashed

Updated: Wednesday, 19 Dec 2012, 10:47 AM EST
Published : Wednesday, 19 Dec 2012, 10:47 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Worshippers usually leave notes to the Almighty at one of Judaism's holiest sites. But half a billion dollars?

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, who oversees Jerusalem's Western Wall, said a worshipper found an envelope at the site Wednesday with 507 checks in the amount of about $1 million each. They were not addressed to anyone, and it's doubtful they can be cashed.

Rabinovitch said most are Nigerian. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said some were from the United States, Europe and Asia.

Rabinovitch says he has found similar checks in Western Wall charity boxes before, but they all bounced. He says most of them were written by people from Africa.

The rabbi says he thinks the check writers "wanted to give all they had to the Creator of the universe."

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